South African Sanitation Technology Demonstration Programme (SASTEP) – Reinvented Toilet Technology Demonstration and Roadmap to Commercialization

Purpose

Testing the latest in cutting-edge sanitation solutions in order to assess and evaluate for feasibility of widespread use and commercialization in rural and peri-urban areas.

Activities

Testing the latest in cutting-edge sanitation solutions in order to assess and evaluate for feasibility of widespread use and commercialization. (BMGF-DST Partnership, focusing on BMGF grants previously funded under the RTTC scheme)

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) South Africa and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – “Partnership in the Demonstration of Sanitation Solutions in Rural and Peri-Urban South Africa” at The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge Fair in Delhi, India. The MoU outlines the cooperation between the two organisations towards achieving sanitation delivery through the implementation / application of innovative sanitation solutions.

The DST has committed ZAR 30 million (~US$ 3.0 million) over two years to fund the implementation and field-testing of innovative sanitation technologies and approaches in South Africa. The technologies to be demonstrated were developed through the BMGF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WSH) programme, in particular, those from the BMGF’s Reinvent the Toilet Challenge. The BMFG WSH programme is contributing US$1 million to support the testing of technologies selected. The lessons learnt through the demonstration of these solutions will be shared with the global community.

The South African Water Research Commission (WRC) will serve as the implementing agent for the demonstration programme. Enquiries of interest are welcomed to potential BMGF grantees who feel that their technologies are ready for demonstration.

Countries of activity

Location of main activity

Objectives

i) Demonstrate technologies in phases; ii) Provide hard evidence on performance; iii) Provide hard evidence on impact; iv) Iterative feedback to technology developers; v) Catalyse and orient sanitation industry towards water saving and beneficiation systems.

Further information

Two technologies from the RTTC have been confirmed for installation in 2016:

1. Caltech: Self-contained, PV-powered domestic toilet and wastewater treatment system

2. Critical Practices: EarthAuger urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT). Two-hundred units have been delivered to South Africa and will be ready for use by mid-2016.

Filter tags

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Community sanitation Faeces or faecal sludge Fertiliser Global Government-owned entity (not university or research) Greywater or wastewater Operation, maintenance and sustainable services Other funding source or unspecified Product design and engineering Resource recovery Rural Schools Sub-Saharan Africa Technology comparisons Toilets or urinals (user interface) Treatment of wastewater or greywater Urine diversion dehydration toilets (UDDTs)

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